Ezekiel 23
Young's Literal Translation
23 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, `Son of man,
2 Two women were daughters of one mother,
3 And they go a-whoring in Egypt, In their youth they have gone a-whoring, There they have bruised their breasts, And there they have dealt with the loves of their virginity.
4 And their names [are] Aholah the elder, And Aholibah her sister, And they are Mine, and bear sons and daughters. As to their names -- Samaria [is] Aholah, And Jerusalem [is] Aholibah.
5 And go a-whoring doth Aholah under Me, And she doteth on her lovers, On the neighbouring Assyrians,
6 Clothed with blue -- governors and prefects, Desirable young men all of them, Horsemen, riding on horses,
7 And she giveth her whoredoms on them, The choice of the sons of Asshur, All of them -- even all on whom she doted, By all their idols she hath been defiled.
8 And her whoredoms out of Egypt she hath not forsaken, For with her they lay in her youth, And they dealt with the loves of her virginity, And they pour out their whoredoms on her.
9 Therefore I have given her into the hand of her lovers, Into the hand of sons of Asshur on whom she doted.
10 They have uncovered her nakedness, Her sons and her daughters they have taken, And her by sword they have slain, And she is a name for women, And judgments they have done with her.
11 And see doth her sister Aholibah, And she maketh her doting love more corrupt than she, And her whoredoms than the whoredoms of her sister.
12 On sons of Asshur she hath doted, Governors and prefects, Neighbouring ones -- clothed in perfection, Horsemen, riding on horses, Desirable young men all of them.
13 And I see that she hath been defiled, One way [is] to them both.
14 And she doth add unto her whoredoms, And she seeth graved men on the wall, Pictures of Chaldeans, graved with red lead,
15 Girded with a girdle on their loins, Dyed attire spread out on their heads, The appearance of rulers -- all of them, The likeness of sons of Babylon, Chaldea is the land of their birth.
16 And she doteth on them at the sight of her eyes, And sendeth messengers to them, to Chaldea.
17 And come in unto her do sons of Babylon, To the bed of loves, And they defile her with their whoredoms, And she is defiled with them, And her soul is alienated from them.
18 And she revealeth her whoredoms, And she revealeth her nakedness, And alienated is My soul from off her, As alienated was My soul from off her sister.
19 And she multiplieth her whoredoms, To remember the days of her youth, When she went a-whoring in the land of Egypt.
20 And she doteth on their paramours, Whose flesh [is] the flesh of asses, And the issue of horses -- their issue.
21 Thou lookest after the wickedness of thy youth, In dealing out of Egypt thy loves, For the sake of the breasts of thy youth.
22 Therefore, O Aholibah, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am stirring up thy lovers against thee, From whom thy soul hath been alienated, And have brought them in against thee from round about.
23 Sons of Babylon, and of all Chaldea, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa, All the sons of Asshur with them, Desirable young men, governors and prefects, All of them -- rulers and proclaimed ones, Riding on horses, all of them.
24 And they have come in against thee, With arms, rider, and wheel, And with an assembly of peoples; Target, and shield, and helmet, They do set against thee round about, And I have set before them judgment, They have judged thee in their Judgments.
25 And I have set My jealousy against thee, And they have dealt with thee in fury, Thy nose and thine ears they turn aside, And thy posterity by sword falleth, They, thy sons and thy daughters do take away, And thy posterity is devoured by fire.
26 And they have stripped thee of thy garments, And have taken thy beauteous jewels.
27 And I have caused thy wickedness to cease from thee, And thy whoredoms out of the land of Egypt, And thou liftest not up thine eyes unto them, And Egypt thou dost not remember again.
28 For thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am giving thee into a hand that thou hast hated, Into a hand from which thou wast alienated.
29 And they have dealt with thee in hatred, And they have taken all thy labour, And they have left thee naked and bare, And revealed hath been the nakedness of thy whoredoms, And the wickedness of thy whoredoms.
30 To do these things to thee, In thy going a-whoring after nations, Because thou hast been defiled with their idols,
31 In the way of thy sister thou hast walked, And I have given her cup into thy hand.
32 Thus said the Lord Jehovah: The cup of thy sister thou dost drink, The deep and the wide one, (Thou art for laughter and for scorn,) Abundant to contain.
33 With drunkenness and sorrow thou art filled, A cup of astonishment and desolation, The cup of thy sister Samaria.
34 And thou hast drunk it, and hast drained [it], And its earthen ware thou dost gnaw, And thine own breasts thou pluckest off, For I have spoken, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah,
35 Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because thou hast forgotten Me, And thou dost cast Me behind thy back, Even thou also bear thy wickedness and thy whoredoms.'
36 And Jehovah saith unto me, `Son of man, Dost thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? Declare then to them their abominations.
37 For they have committed adultery, And blood [is] in their hands, With their idols they committed adultery, And also their sons whom they bore to Me, They caused to pass over to them for food.
38 Again, this they have done to Me, They defiled My sanctuary in that day, And My sabbaths they have polluted.
39 And in their slaughtering their sons to their idols They also come in unto My sanctuary in that day to pollute it, And lo, thus they have done in the midst of My house,
40 And also that they send to men coming from afar, Unto whom a messenger is sent, And lo, they have come in for whom thou hast washed, Painted thine eyes, and put on adornment.
41 And thou hast sat on a couch of honour, And a table arrayed before it, And My perfume and My oil placed on it.
42 And the voice of a multitude at ease [is] with her, And unto men of the common people are brought in Sabeans from the wilderness, And they put bracelets on their hands, And a beauteous crown on their heads.
43 And I say of the worn-out one in adulteries, Now they commit her whoredoms -- she also!
44 And they come in unto her, As the coming in unto a whorish woman, So they have come in unto Aholah, And unto Aholibah -- the wicked women.
45 As to righteous men, they judge them with the judgment of adulteresses, And the judgment of women shedding blood, For they [are] adulteresses, And blood [is] in their hands.
46 For thus said the Lord Jehovah: Bring up against them an assembly, And give them to trembling and to spoiling.
47 And they have cast at them the stone of the assembly, And cut them with their swords, Their sons and their daughters they do slay, And their houses with fire they burn.
48 And I have caused wickedness to cease from the land, And instructed have been all the women, And they do not according to your wickedness.
49 And they have put your wickedness on you, And the sins of your idols ye bear, And ye have known that I [am] the Lord Jehovah!
Ezekiel 23
English Standard Version
Oholah and Oholibah
23 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 (A)“Son of man, there were (B)two women, the daughters of one mother. 3 (C)They played the whore in Egypt; (D)they played the whore (E)in their youth; there their breasts were pressed and their virgin bosoms[a] handled. 4 Oholah was the name of the elder and Oholibah the name of her sister. (F)They became mine, and they (G)bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Oholah is (H)Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.
5 “Oholah played the whore (I)while she was mine, and (J)she lusted after her lovers (K)the Assyrians, warriors 6 clothed in purple, (L)governors and commanders, (M)all of them desirable young men, (N)horsemen riding on horses. 7 She bestowed her whoring upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them, and she defiled herself with all the idols of everyone after whom she lusted. 8 She did not give up her whoring (O)that she had begun in Egypt; for in her youth men had lain with her and handled her virgin bosom and poured out their whoring lust upon her. 9 Therefore (P)I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted. 10 (Q)These uncovered her nakedness; (R)they seized her sons and her daughters; and as for her, they killed her with the sword; and she became (S)a byword among women, (T)when judgment had been executed on her.
11 (U)“Her sister Oholibah saw this, and she became (V)more corrupt than her sister[b] in her lust and in her whoring, which was worse than that of her sister. 12 She lusted after the Assyrians, governors and commanders, warriors clothed in full armor, horsemen riding on horses, (W)all of them desirable young men. 13 And I saw that she was defiled; they both took the same way. 14 But she carried her whoring further. She saw men (X)portrayed on the wall, the (Y)images of (Z)the Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion, 15 wearing belts on their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them having the appearance of officers, a likeness of Babylonians whose native land was Chaldea. 16 When she saw them, she lusted after them and (AA)sent messengers to them (AB)in Chaldea. 17 And the Babylonians came to her (AC)into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoring lust. And after she was defiled by them, (AD)she turned from them in disgust. 18 When she carried on her whoring so openly and flaunted her nakedness, I turned in disgust from her, as I had turned in disgust from her sister. 19 Yet she increased her whoring, (AE)remembering the days of her youth, when she played the whore in the land of Egypt 20 and lusted after her lovers there, whose members were like those of donkeys, and whose issue was like that of horses. 21 Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your bosom and pressed[c] your young breasts.”
22 Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I will stir up against you your lovers (AF)from whom you turned in disgust, (AG)and I will bring them against you from every side: 23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, (AH)Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, (AI)desirable young men, (AJ)governors and commanders all of them, officers and men of renown, all of them riding on horses. 24 And they shall come against you from the north[d] with chariots and wagons and a host of peoples. (AK)They shall set themselves against you on every side with buckler, shield, and helmet; and (AL)I will commit the judgment to them, and (AM)they shall judge you according to their judgments. 25 And I will direct my jealousy against you, (AN)that they may deal with you in fury. They shall cut off your nose and your ears, and your survivors shall fall by the sword. (AO)They shall seize your sons and your daughters, and your survivors shall be devoured by fire. 26 (AP)They shall also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels. 27 (AQ)Thus I will put an end to your lewdness and (AR)your whoring begun in the land of Egypt, so that you shall not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.
28 “For thus says the Lord God: (AS)Behold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, (AT)into the hands of those from whom you turned in disgust, 29 and (AU)they shall deal with you in hatred and take away all the fruit of your labor (AV)and leave you naked and bare, and (AW)the nakedness of your whoring shall be uncovered. Your lewdness and your whoring 30 have brought this upon you, because (AX)you played the whore with the nations and defiled yourself with their idols. 31 You have gone the way of your sister; (AY)therefore I will give (AZ)her cup into your hand. 32 Thus says the Lord God:
“You shall drink your sister's cup
that is deep and large;
you shall be laughed at and held in derision,
for it contains much;
33 you will be filled with (BA)drunkenness and sorrow.
(BB)A cup of horror and desolation,
the cup of (BC)your sister Samaria;
34 (BD)you shall drink it and drain it out,
and gnaw its shards,
and tear your breasts;
for I have spoken, declares the Lord God. 35 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because (BE)you have forgotten me and (BF)cast me behind your back, you yourself (BG)must bear the consequences of your lewdness and whoring.”
36 The Lord said to me: (BH)“Son of man, (BI)will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Declare to them their abominations. 37 For (BJ)they have committed adultery, (BK)and blood is on their hands. With their idols they have committed adultery, and they have even (BL)offered up[e] to them for food the children whom they had borne to me. 38 Moreover, this they have done to me: (BM)they have defiled my sanctuary on the same day and (BN)profaned my Sabbaths. 39 For when (BO)they had slaughtered their children in sacrifice to their idols, on the same day (BP)they came into my sanctuary to profane it. And behold, (BQ)this is what they did in my house. 40 They even sent for men to come from afar, (BR)to whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came. For them you bathed yourself, (BS)painted your eyes, (BT)and adorned yourself with ornaments. 41 You sat on (BU)a stately couch, with a table spread before it (BV)on which you had placed my incense and (BW)my oil. 42 The (BX)sound of a carefree multitude was with her; and with men of the common sort, drunkards[f] were brought from the wilderness; and they put (BY)bracelets on the hands of the women, and (BZ)beautiful crowns on their heads.
43 “Then I said of her who was worn out by adultery, ‘Now they will continue to use her for a whore, even her!’[g] 44 For they have gone in to her, as men go in to a prostitute. Thus they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, lewd women! 45 But righteous men (CA)shall pass judgment on them with the sentence of adulteresses, and with the sentence of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.”
46 For thus says the Lord God: (CB)“Bring up a vast host against them, and make them (CC)an object of terror and (CD)a plunder. 47 (CE)And the host shall stone them and cut them down with their swords. (CF)They shall kill their sons and their daughters, and (CG)burn up their houses. 48 (CH)Thus will I put an end to lewdness in the land, that all women may take warning and not commit lewdness as you have done. 49 And they shall return your lewdness upon you, and (CI)you shall bear the penalty for your sinful idolatry, and (CJ)you shall know that I am the Lord God.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 23:3 Hebrew nipples; also verses 8, 21
- Ezekiel 23:11 Hebrew than she
- Ezekiel 23:21 Vulgate, Syriac; Hebrew bosom for the sake of
- Ezekiel 23:24 Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
- Ezekiel 23:37 Or have even made pass through the fire
- Ezekiel 23:42 Or Sabeans
- Ezekiel 23:43 The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
